Food doesn''t get any better than this!

One of my treasured memories was being able to treat my favorite lady to lunch at one of the famous Iron Chef restaurants here in Tokyo! The restaurant was Massa, run by Iron Chef Italian, Kobe Masahik. But it was difficult to get in the place! We ended up going there on a Monday and found out that it closed at 1:30 for lunch and we got there about 5 minutes to late. The next day we try again, but no luck! They are closed the first Tuesday of every month! Then they closed every Wednesday! Fast-forward to Friday and we finally got a seat!

The host, dressed in a nice tux with bow-tie, took our coats and showed us to a small table in front of the large windows witha view of the street. I took the seat facing the interior of the restaurant so I could watch the staff serve food and refill glasses. I could even see part of the kitchen! We both chose the lunch set A which cost a reasonable 2000 yen each. We both ordered different pasta main dishes, but it turns out that they served us both totally different soup, anti-pasta dishes and different salads. Of course the food was some of the best I've ever had. I can't remember exactly how many courses there were but it was at least 3. The pasta was cooked perfectly, not too hard or too soft. My salad had these purple tentacles in it, but it was very delicious! The desert was the neatest part because we noticed that everyone in the restaurant had a different dessert as if it was prepared especially for the person. I was given a type of plum cake while my friend had a coconut molded pudding with fresh fruit!

The lunch time ended and the doors were closed while we were halfway through our meal. This is when the Iron Chef himself came out and looked around the room at the customers. He then talked to the host for a few moments before disappearing back into the kitchen. At the time I didn't recognize him until I looked at pictures later. When we finished our meals the host brought us our coats and held the door for us. He was even gracious enough to take our picture together out front so we can remember it! Here is a pic from my visit!